NIA-Business Plan Final Colour

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NECDAF Intercultural ArtsBusiness Plan

2009-2014

Prepared by Ribble Consultants on behalf of NECDAF Intercultural Arts, Dance City,

Temple Street, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 4BR. e:[email protected]: 0191 260 5440


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Summary

Welcome to the NECDAF Intercultural Arts five year plan.

Our ambitious vision and objective is to establish NECDAF Intercultural Arts as the focusfor the development of the expression of the art and cultures of minority ethniccommunities in North East England, to maximise their impact on the economy, andcontribute to the social cohesion of our region. We will;

- ensure that organisations and agencies with a regional remit understand the needsof intercultural arts practitioners and the importance of interculturalism to regionaldevelopment;

- make sure that minority ethnic artists receive appropriate recognition and supportand that events and venues recognise the importance of Intercultural Arts andreflect it in their programming;

- make sure that there is support available for minority ethnic artists and forinnovative Intercultural Arts events across the region;

- support the use of Intercultural Arts to facilitate understanding, build identities andbreak down barriers between cultures.

We have a 3 stage plan for growth over the next five years;

1. In the first year (2009/2010) we will consolidate our position as a strategicdevelopment organisation, acting as a signpost and source of practical support toartists; developing partnerships and projects as opportunities arise;

2. In the following two years (up to 2012) we will develop ourselves as a resourcecentre, with a comprehensive programme of activities and services to supportindividual artists. Our focus will be on promoting the sector and developing theprofessionalism of its members;

3. In the final two years of the plan (up to 2014) we will seek to become a building-based centre for Intercultural Arts, promoting intercultural understanding throughthe medium of arts.

All of our activities require an appropriate financing plan. Our current development is linkedto the amount of funding we can secure. Core funding from the Arts Council remains a vitalpart of the picture and if this does not continue after the end of the current RFO agreementthen it will limit our ability to expand. Our future development is to be geared to generatingmore income earned from commercial activities e.g. providing diversity awarenessservices to public sector agencies and larger companies.


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Contents

Introduction.......... 7

1.0 Our Vision and Objectives. 8

2.0 Where We Are Now. 102.1 Necdaf Intercultural Arts. 102.2 The Minority Ethnic Arts Centre and its Needs. 10

3.0 What we want to achieve in the next five years. 16

4.0 Strategy. 174.1 Principals. 174.2 Stages of Growth. 174.3 Work Plan. 18

5.0 Management and Organisation. 24

6.0 Financial Projections. 256.1 Income and Expenditure. 256.2 Other Scenarios. 26

7.0 Evaluation and Control. 28

Annex A Reducing Risk. 29Annex B Financial Projections. 30


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Introduction

This is a business plan for NECDAF Intercultural Arts.

The plan shows our ambitions and intentions for the next five years in the following ways:

a. Ourvision and objectives;

b. Our understanding ofwhere we are nowboth in terms of our achievements to date,and in terms of how the needs of the sector are changing;

c. What we want to achieve over the next five years and how we will know we have

got there;

d. OurStrategyto achieve these aims;

e. How we approach issues ofmanagement and organisation including staffing;

f. Outline financial projections showing how we will fund our ambitions;

g. How we approach evaluation and control.

As annexes we present:

a. An analysis of riskshowing how we would continue to operate if there is a seriousshortfall in funding;

b. Detailedfinancial projections.


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1.0 Our Vision and Objectives

Our vision for Intercultural Arts is that:

- The concept of Intercultural Arts will be recognised, including its contribution to theeconomy of North East England;

- The arts will be used to facilitate understanding, build identities and break downbarriers between cultures;

- The creativity and professionalism of artists will be increased and improvements tothe quality of their work will be supported;

- There will be an effective voice for minority ethnic artists in the region which willpromote diversity, equality and justice and bring about change in the arts andcultural sector;

- North East England will be a location which supports the development ofintercultural artists.

NECDAF Intercultural Arts has a strategic role which means that:

- We seek to identify gaps in the overall level of support and infrastructural

landscape and to find ways of addressing these, performing appropriate researchas background to its activities;

- We seek to influence other organisations and to mobilise resources fromother sources in order to support Intercultural Arts and minority ethnic artists;

- We work with and support both strategic and delivery organisations and agencies todevelop their own remits to promote diversity;

- We seek to build and widen the audience for Intercultural Arts generally acrossthe region;

- We organise activities across the whole of North East England and preferablythose with a region wide impact;

- We seek to deliver projects which have a wide impact and do not duplicate thosewhich could be organised by individual artists or local organisations.

In fulfilling this role, we need to operate in the following areas:

a. Advocacy for the sector, ensuring that key organisations understand thesectors needs and importance, and that they give it appropriate promotion and

support;


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2.0 Where We Are Now

2.1 NECDAF Intercultural Arts

NECDAF Intercultural Arts was set up in 2004 to provide practical services to the cultural,arts and community organisations serving minority ethnic communities in North EastEngland. We employ a Director and Project Coordinator and work closely with the ArtsCouncil England North East, other funders, voluntary and public sector agencies todevelop a sustainable infrastructure for diverse arts in North East England.

There has been a generally held misconception amongst our target audience thatNECDAF Intercultural Arts was created from the top down by the Arts Council in order to

meet their strategic need, rather than as a result of analysis of the needs of the sector anda vision for how development will be achieved. This reinforces our view of the need toactively engage with minority ethnic artists to listen to their concerns and present ourservices and activities.

NECDAF Intercultural Arts is established as a Regularly Funded Organisation (RFO) of theArts Council with a contribution to our core costs guaranteed until 2010/2011.

NECDAF Intercultural Arts plans to build on the networks and relationships that it hasestablished in the last five years. However, this does not mean that all structures andfunctions will necessarily continue as before; the business plan charts a process of

development which will cause the organisation to adapt to the changing needs of thesector it serves and the stakeholders involved.

2.2 The Minority Ethnic Arts Sector and Its Needs

2.2.1 The Sector as a Whole

The current minority ethnic arts sector in North East England is small but growing steadily.It supports a limited number of organisations related to particular cultures which are of asize that allows them to have theirown voice, but there is a greater need for a voice forInterculturalArts in North East England than some other regions of the country because of

the comparatively small proportion of minority ethnic people living in the region (2.5%against a national average of 7.9%1).

The sector itself is itself fragmented because:

- The different ethnic groups do not necessarily recognise a common cause andnaturally concentrate on promoting their own culture or careers rather thanInterculturalism;

- The distribution of different cultures in North East England has changed in recentyears, in particular through incoming asylum seekers and refugees and by people

1ONS: 2003 census data


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from the European Unions new member states. Many, though not all of these newgroups do not link to existing organisations and structures, and include artists

whose presence is entirely unknown to support organisations.

Organisations outside the arts sector often have a poor understanding of the sector andthe impact it can bring to objectives in other sectors. For example:

- There is poor understanding of the influence of arts on the economy, and theopportunities presented by artists from the region;

- The role of arts in education, training, and therapy is poorly explored and is oftenperceived as ticking boxes rather than a mainstream activity.

2.2.2 Promotion of the sector

Almost all minority ethnic artists who were consulted in focus groups for this plan sawadvertising and promotion as a key barrier (second only to finance) to professionaldevelopment. This relates to the following factors:

- visibility (people forget about local minority ethnic artists very quickly and there isnta critical mass of activity to bring the sector back to their attention);

- reluctance of venues to engage minority ethnic artists, for a number of reasons:

- perceived and actual risk of failed events in terms of lack of audience orprofitability. There is a shortage of smaller venues with the necessary profileand cultural awareness to programme minority ethnic arts successfully;

- lack of knowledge of the range and quality of minority ethnic artists in ourregion;

- lack of professionalism by artists in presenting themselves: expertise in PR,knowledge of how to network etc, this can lead venues to assume that thequality of the work will be similarly lacking in professionalism;

- the fact that venues are linked to a series of touring artists/ events andtherefore local artists are ignored;

- audience development:audiences are relatively conservative, the sector lacks theresources to invest in introducing audiences to arts activities that are unfamiliar tothem;

- diversity of audiences: there tend to be minority ethnic audiences for minority ethnicartists which limits the size and penetration;

- actual funding for promotion.


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In terms of approaches for reducing the risk to venues and therefore promoting localartists, areas which may be of assistance are:

- advice on audience development/diversity (audits, strategy etc);

- promotion of local artists alongside nationally established ones or in order to creatediversity within the programme (although we need to avoid the danger of tokenismhere);

- promotion of local artists in other parts of the country where there are largerminority ethnic communities/more diverse audiences;

- show-casing (though many people have considerable scepticism about thisapproach).

Promotion is important and NECDAF Intercultural Arts needs to be proactive: i.e. morethan just a provider of information, even if this is how we start.

2.2.3 Capacity of the Sector

There is a wide range of different needs, though many artists need basic material support.Capacity-building can be at a range of different levels:

- Material support to allow the artist to develop themselves: basic materials, space forexperimentation, ability to take time off from earning money;

- Development of artistic talent: mentoring with successful artists, actual training;

- Development of skills related to being a professional artist: how to promotethemselves/PR, art as a business etc;

- Approach to intercultural issues: how to promote yourself as an artist from aminority culture to audiences outside your own culture.

If we consider the broad range of people that NECDAF Intercultural Arts might support,capacity building can also encompass those who are not likely to be mainstream artists buthave a role in developing Interculturalism. Promoting Interculturalism is a talent in itselfand is not necessarily related to the quality of the art involved.

Asylum seekers and refugees represent an opportunity for NECDAF Intercultural Arts toassist already skilled artists who do not fit into the prevailing culture and who do notunderstand how to deal with existing institutions. We will work closely with refugee andasylum seeker support organisations to have an effective way of recognising professionalrefugee or asylum seeker artists and their needs, which may be different from those ofestablished local artists.


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Part of the role of capacity building is that of being a resource centre, retaining informationon artists themselves, venues, events/festivals, opportunities for support/training, funding,

identity of support professionals.

Artists need personal development plans or a clear route for producing one i.e. capacitybuilding should be tailored to the individual and should have a clear goal/direction.

Capacity building does not only apply to artists, but also to venues, to culturalorganisations and to agents and event organisers. NECDAF Intercultural Arts needs toidentify where assistance is needed and provide targeted support. It should be possible tosecure funding for this and even earn income on a consultancy basis.

2.2.4 Education

NECDAF Intercultural Arts has a role in promoting Interculturalism through the medium ofthe arts, which is broader than that of supporting individual artists. Educational activitiesrepresent an opportunity for NECDAF Intercultural Arts, specifically in:

- Assisting in introducing multicultural arts to schools and education in general todemonstrate the existence of other cultures in North East England and theircontributions to the region;

- Using art as a means to assist the integration of minority cultures, promoting

confidence and creating diversity particularly for asylum seekers and refugees;

- Promoting artists who combine aspects of different cultural traditions anddemonstrate cultural cooperation through art;

- Linking art to existing expressions of minority ethnic culture Black History Month,UNESCO World Day for Cultural Diversity etc;

- Providing a service of tuition to adults who are interested in learning a new art formand possibly the representation of the artists culture through their art.

2.2.5 Networking and Research

For NECDAF Intercultural Artss operations above, and its own credibility, it is clear that itneeds to have as much contact with minority ethnic artists as possible. This relates to twoaspects:

- Identifying minority ethnic artists in the region at all levels of development;

- Active engagement with individual minority ethnic artists; more than keeping themon a passive list in order to recognise development opportunities and fullyunderstand their needs.


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This is not an easy process and is likely to be labour intensive. Clearly with limitedresources it is important to work through intermediaries, which will include:

- Existing local and culture-specific artist associations;

- Organisations serving Minority Ethnic communities, helping them to identify artistsor potential artists e.g. North of England Refugee Service, BECON, local culturalofficers, other parts of local authorities, Association of North East Councils.

NECDAF Intercultural Arts needs to have appropriate research capabilities to lobby andpromote the sector effectively. This means being able to demonstrate economic value andto provide the background for audience development work.

It is acknowledged that North East England does not always operate as a single area forthe arts and that there is a concentration of arts funding in Tyneside. Consequently theneeds and the institutions in Tees Valley have different characteristics and it is importantthat NECDAF Intercultural Arts has an appropriate local presence there.

We do not seek to duplicate work which has already been done elsewhere, but rather tolearn from the experience of other organisations and parts of the country.

2.2.6 Resources

It is clear that expectations and ideas for activities outpace resources and thatdevelopment of appropriate resources will need to be a major part of the plan. Resourcesrelate both to finance and to people.

Finance

In the current economic situation it seems likely that funding for RFOs will not increase.While the decisions on which organisation gets what grant are not transparent, andNECDAF Intercultural Arts is not a major recipient, we cannot expect a major growth in thissource of funding.

Business sponsorship has been suggested as an avenue, but its should be noted thatthis is likely to be longer term, for specific activities (and therefore likely to be projectbased and restricted), and difficult to obtain in the current economic circumstances.Nonetheless we have decided to initiate a Friends scheme to raise funds formindividual donors.

The degree to which artists can be expected to pay for services is extremely limited and inany case may be a disincentive for the degree of outreach which NECDAF InterculturalArts requires to fulfil its mission. There may be ways of providing services to otherstakeholders (venues, cultural officers) which would help to subsidise services to artiststhemselves.


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Grants for projects in the arts sector are increasingly competitive, and the current strategyof seeking a wide range of small grants is likely not to be cost effective in the long term nor

is it likely to increase the budget above the current level.

There are areas where there is funding available which is not directly linked to the arts(education, integration of refugees, heritage etc) and these need to be explored more fully.

This means that to realise NECDAF Intercultural Arts ambitions:

- The primary sources of funding are likely to be project-based;

- There is a need to look at ways of funding activities through grants from outside thearts sector;

- We need to target a smaller number of large grants in order that fundraising doesnot eclipse time for other activities;

- To keep our current profile, continued core funding from the Art Council is likely tobe significant. In the event that Arts Council core funding is not available then theorganisation will have to be run on a more commercial basis. As noted above thescope to charge artists is limited, we will need to identify public and commercialsector clients and subsidise services to artists from earned income.

People

There are only two staff at present, but most of the activities envisaged are significantlylabour intensive. This means:

- Employment of people on a project basis;

- Prioritising core activities based on the availability of funding;

- Mobilisation of any voluntary contributions that can be derived from sources relatedto NECDAF Intercultural Arts, in particular using connections of the Trustees;

- Maximising activities which can be done on a consultancy basis (e.g. diversityadvice/audits);

- Creating volunteer/trainee work placements for labour intensive, but less skilledwork.


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3.0 What We Want to Achieve in the Next Five Years

We aim to grow in a way which responds to the needs of the sector and to be thedevelopment agency for Intercultural Arts in North East England.

We can measure our success by:

- The development of individual artists, on both an artistic and professional level(figures based on the number of artists live on the website, numbers of artists whocome to the regional forum, number of artists given specific types of supportthrough NECDAF Intercultural Arts inspired projects);

- The development of venues with regard to the diversity of their events (figuresbased on the number of venues who have used NECDAF Intercultural Artspromotional services, outreach or consultancy, specific figures where available onaudiences for different types of event);

- The development of audiences in terms of their awareness and understanding ofother cultures, and their diversity in attending events of other cultures (this will bedifficult to measure directly, but can be indicated through the number of venueswhich promote intercultural events);

- The development of minority cultural communities and individuals from isolation

towards confidence, participation and recognition by mainstream culture (this is alsodifficult to measure but can be indicated by the number of minority cultural eventsput on at mainstream venues and the number of artists supported directly orindirectly through NECDAF Intercultural Arts who do not have support throughexisting cultural societies);

- The development of financial stability by diversifying our sources of income andusing commercial opportunities (this can be measured by the percentage of fundingwhich comes from funds earned by our own activities).


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4.0 Strategy

4.1 Principles

We will seek to grow in a stable and sustainable manner. This means that we will:

- not undertake work which does not have identified funding;

- seek to diversify sources of funding;

- employ additional staff on terms related to the funding for their jobs if they areemployed on project-based work;

- only undertake projects which are well-researched and clearly based on identifiedneeds.

We will seek to be a strategic organisation covering the whole North East. This means thatwe will:

- actively seek to find members and clients across the whole region;

- seek to engage all region-wide bodies of relevance;

- seek to cover the gaps left by other organisations and not duplicate existingservices;

- be sensitive to the differing nature and needs of the sector in different sub regions,in particular the needs of the Tees Valley as opposed to those of Tyne and Wearwhere NECDAF Intercultural Arts is currently based.

We will seek to be as close to the grass roots as possible. This means that we will:

- undertake activities where appropriate that give direct benefit to our members;

- consult with our members when developing new projects and activities.

We recognise the importance of the Arts Council for core funding and will seek to maintainthe current level of support.

4.2 Stages of Growth

In order to develop, we aim to proceed through three stages.

4.2.1 Consolidation (by 2010)

We will remain at the present size and seek to concentrate almost exclusively on strategicpriorities, acting as a lobby group and coordinator. Networking will be through


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intermediaries and passively using the website. Major funding is from the ArtsCouncil/RFO source with limited amounts of consultancy and smaller grants.

- We will continue to provide direct practical development support to artists and to actas a signpost to resources and support available through other sources;

- We will form a limited number of strategic partnerships and to develop largerprojects as opportunities arise;

- We seek to learn from other organisations (and work outside the region) in planningfor expansion.

4.2.2 Resource Centre (2010-2012)

We will develop a more comprehensive set of activities and resources to support individualartists, who remain our focus of all of our activities.

- Project based funding is secured for the purpose of programmes which develop orbenefit particular artists or sets of artists.

- NECDAF Intercultural Arts seeks to promote the sector to all arts/culturalorganisations and venues and gains support for this service through administrationallowances from project funding.

4.2.3 Intercultural Arts Centre (2012-2014)

We will become the key agent for the development of Intercultural Arts in North EastEngland and seek to promote intercultural understanding through the medium of arts. Thismeans justifying arts funding through its impact on other aspects (education, communitycohesion, economy) and lobbying organisations which have an intercultural impact but arenot necessarily directly connected with the arts. Funding comes from a diverse set ofsources, mainly project-based. NECDAF Intercultural Arts will have extensive contacts andcredibility outside the region.

4.3 Work Plan

4.3.1 General

In outlining the work plan, we divide work between core work and project work. Core workis the work done by the core staff (as outlined below) and should continue indefinitely.Project work relates to the funding and implementation of specific projects. Projects wouldbe expected to be limited in scope and time, and to have staff attached to them who areemployed purely for their duration.

Clearly it is not possible to predict exactly which projects will receive funding, the exact

size of funding, nor what contribution projects will make to core costs, onetheless; we canmake a plan which shows what type of projects are necessary to reach our ambitions,


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what general level of funding this represents and the contribution such projects can maketo core costs. For the purpose of planning we assume that the core staff will be relatively

well engaged in projects and that the projects will contribute 30% of their turnover to corecosts.

We divide the rest of the work plan into the phases outlined above.

4.3.2 Consolidation Phase (to 2010)

Core Work

Core work will consist of the following activities:

- Maintaining contact with minority ethnic artists;

- Maintaining the calendar of events and other information on the website;

- Holding a quarterly forum for minority ethnic artists, regional stakeholders andcross-sector development partners to share views and guide NECDAF InterculturalArtss development;

- Regular contact (at least quarterly) with all major venues in the region, to reviewand assist their activities to engage minority ethnic communities, offer services,

remind them of NECDAF Intercultural Artsexistence, and if possible to monitor thetrends in cultural diversity in their programming;

- Maintaining contact with regional stakeholders and lobbying them on relevantissues. Stakeholders include:

o Arts Council, ONE North East;o The Association of North East Councils (ANEC);o North East England Refugee Service (NERS).

Key lobby points are:

o the value of Intercultural Arts to the regional economy;o the ability of minority ethnic artists to articulate and address the problems of

minority ethnic communities in the region;o the need for adequate funding.

- Quarterly contact with cultural organisations (through the quarterly RegionalForum);

- Mobilising Trustees and Associates to use their networks and contacts for thebenefit of NECDAF Intercultural Arts;


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- Fundraising and sponsorship for the strategic development of the sector e.g. tocreate the Centre for Intercultural Arts or to secure equipment and other resources

for shared use;

- Consultancy work on diversity issues to public sector and commercial organisationsfor fees to subsidise continued free services to artists;

- Maintaining the quality of our reactive responses to enquiries from artists and otherstakeholders.

Projects

Although there is limited scope for major project development in the first year there are anumber of projects that are currently underway:

- Cultural Calendar;o A youth engagement project funded by Awards for All to produce a printed

and digital calendar of community events and religious festivals, illustrated bydigital photographs. The project aims to train young people to act asCommunity Photographers for future events and activities.

- Sustained Theatre Regional Hub;o We have accepted a regional coordination role for a national Arts Council

initiative to stimulate and develop minority ethnic theatre across the country.

- Regional Forum for Intercultural Arts.o We have initiated a cross sector partnership of stakeholders in intercultural

arts in our region. The Forum meets quarterly to discuss and ratify the workof 8 volunteer-led sub-groups charged with specific development aims.

We plan to use Black History Month (October 2009) as a lever for additional activities inthe major venues and for the promotion of individual minority ethnic artists who are part ofNECDAF Intercultural Artss database. We have secured a contract with the North EastRegional Museums Hub to coordinate and promote the diversity activities of the different

partners and market a programme of activities during Black History Month 2009.

It would be helpful to do (limited) research into where minority ethnic artists are under-represented in the creative industries in our region and to create plans for change iffunding is secured.

Targets

By the end of the year 2009/2010 there will be:

- A fresh and dynamic website;


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- Number of artists on the database: 100 (as per RFO agreement);

- Development of projects for year 2 including delivery plans, detailed budgets andidentification of core funders;

- Strategic partnerships with other regional agencies (at least 2);

- A further two projects which bring in revenue on a consultancy basis (on the modelof work with Tyne and Wear Museums (above).

4.3.3 Resource Centre Phase (2010-2012)

Core Work

Core work continues as before, but additionally would include funding a Tees Valleyworker with a specific brief to increase contact with minority ethnic artists in the southernpart of the region.

Projects

Target is that projects will have a turnover of at least 30,000 in year 2 increasing to

45,000 in year 3.

Specific project ideas:

- Promotion of North East minority ethnic artists and their work outside theregion: support to a limited number of artists to promote their work elsewhere in theUK, including through coordination between NECDAF Intercultural Arts and othercorresponding organisations in other regions. Funding could come partially fromfunds allocated to promoting North East England region;

- Creation of a showcase (perhaps by means of a competition): work has been done

on this before, but a key precondition is to develop interest amongst promoters.Assurance of quality will be important and a competition may be an approach todoing this without forcing NECDAF Intercultural Arts itself into making judgement onits clients;

- Capacity building of individual artists (or specific cultural organisations) through aspecific programme of activities. This is probably chiefly in the field of capacitybuilding for business skills rather than artistic skills. Possible funding could comefrom business support organisations and programmes (Business and EnterpriseNorth East, Working Neighbourhoods Fund etc);

- Diversity audits of venues and consequent work with development of audienceand offer. The contract secured with Tyne and Wear Archives and Museums


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Many previous projects will continue, but we will consider:

- Work with asylum seekers and refugees, using arts as therapy and to enhancecommunity cohesion;

- Work with schools to sustain and enhance the role of diverse arts into thecurriculum. We will remain aware of developments in the curriculum that presentopportunities for intercultural artists. We will broker contacts between artists andschools, ensuring that artists are prepared for delivering participatory arts in schoolscontexts. We will work in association with existing agencies introducing artists toschools and colleges;

- Establishment of an actual physical centre and running it as a business;

- Working as a network of networks and extending the work of NECDAFIntercultural Arts to other regions of the country. We have discovered that there arefew organisations in the country with a similar remit and that this, along with thecomparatively small population of the North East presents a unique set ofdevelopment opportunities for minority ethnic arts in our region.

Targets

By 2014 there will be:

- Number of artists on the database: 250;

- Number of performances at mainstream venues: 750;

- Number of North East artists performing outside the region (increased);

- Number of schools involved: at least one in each of the 12 local authority areas;

- A way to measure the diversity of audiences for minority ethnic art events in the

region.


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5.0 Management and Organisation

NECDAF Intercultural Arts is a not-for-profit organisation run by a Board of Trusteeselected at an Annual General Meeting. The Trustees have formed subgroups for specificpurposes which report back to the main Board.

Additional staff will be employed on a project basis. These staff will be employed onappropriate temporary contracts and will report to the Director.

Through its work as a networking organisation NECDAF Intercultural Arts works with avariety of associates and seeks to promote their work. This is done on an informal,networking approach and without a formal contractual relationship.


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6.0 Financial Projections

6.1 Income and Expenditure

Within Annexe B we show two projections for the future, an optimistic one based oncontinued support by the Arts Council at the same level as present under a new RFOagreement, and a pessimistic one which assumes that Arts Council core funding will ceasein 2011.

Figures for the first year are based on existing budgets and commitments from the ArtsCouncil

Analysis of other comparable strategic organisations which receive Arts Council fundingshows the difficulty of reliance on grants for core funding. It is difficult to find any exampleof a comparable organisation where the core costs are funded by unrestricted grantsoutside the Arts Council, the main other source of funding being local authorities.

Name Date Income(Unrestricted)

Source of Unrestricted Funding

Arcadea 31/03/08 91,000(69,000)

Arts Council 69,000 (76%)Newcastle Council 12,000 (13%)

Black Arts Alliance 18/02/08 121,000(121,000)

Arts Council 63,000 (52%)Arts Council projects 33,000 (27%)

Local Authorities 11,000 (9%)Community ArtsNorth West

31/03/08 450,000(170,000)

Arts Council 84,000 (19%)Local Authorities 44,000 (10%)

Diversity ArtsIncubationProgramme

30/04/07 100,000(100,000)

Arts Council 40,000 (40%)Heritage Lottery Fund 45,000 (45%)

New Writing North 31/03/08 682,000(347,000)

Arts Council 263,000 (39%)

In the optimistic scenario, other figures are based on the following assumptions:

- We assume that the level of Arts Council funding will not markedly decrease giventhat there is expansion and a higher level of activity and that this will give anopportunity to raise a modest amount of project funding from them. The actualpercentage of the total will decrease as the organisation generates a greaterproportion of its funding from project sources;

- We aim to seek funds for an increased programme of projects to secure a greatercontribution to our core costs;

- We will approach local authorities to fund services and activities to contribute to

core costs;


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- Earned income should increase, (particularly if there are more staff) but there is alimit to this owning to the limited staff resource involved;

- The amount from sponsorship is based on the generation of a friends of NECDAFIntercultural Arts group who will put in (say) 1,000 each with a lead figure puttingin (say) 5,000;

- An extra member of staff is brought on board by 2012. A Tees Valley worker startspart time (and hosted by a Tees Valley organisation) in 2010 and increases theirtime allocation as funding (and work) increases;

- In the first year, and in subsequent years where there is RFO funding, there will bea need to deliver a limited number of projects for which no funding is necessarilyavailable to cover costs. We have put in a figure of 10,000 for this;

- The figures do not account for inflation.

The pessimistic scenario uses a similar set of assumptions but additionally that:

- In the absence of Arts Council core funding there is greater scope to find projectfunding from them;

- Employing additional staff is delayed and so the amount of project funding which

can be generated is reduced;

- Earned income increases because we have to concentrate on finding fees;

- No projects are undertaken which fail to cover their costs.

6.2 Other Scenarios

In the current uncertain circumstances, it is also important to consider how to avoid risk,and we look at this in the annex.

However, we also need to consider the positions with regard to capacity and variations inactual demand during the year. In this case we note the following:

1. Capacity

There is the opportunity in the short term to divert core work from actual support to artiststowards activities which would raise more funds, at least in the short term. This meansspecifically searching for grants and applying for them, and doing consultancy work.

2. Reserves and Short term Loss

Reserves are currently nil but we aim for a minimum 3 month reserve (based on corecosts). This is built into the current projections. Our ambition is to get to this stage within


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18 months through avoidance of spending funds which we generate ourselves. Projectionsshow that we can confidently get to this stage, even with expansion, by the end of 2011.

3. Cash Flow Requirements

NECDAF Intercultural Artss cash flow is acutely dependent on the timing of grants relativeto expenditure. It will be important that all project plans take cash flow requirements intoaccount and this should be part of the planning and appraisal process.


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7.0 Evaluation and Control

Both for funding agencies and for our own work, we need to have factual information onwhat happens to our clients and how successful we have been in addressing their needs.

We will set targets for monitoring purposes for all activities and actively seek to monitorthese. The business plan will be monitored by the Director on a regular basis, andprogress reported to the Board at regular meetings.

Evaluation will be focused on both outputs (what we have done), and outcomes (thedifference made). Hard figures will be sought and captured where possible, and surveyswill be conducted to gain qualitative feedback. We will establish a full and simple

QA(question and answer) system so that we have also feedback in our commitment toquality.

The effective delivery of the business plan will be evaluated by the following as example:

number of artists on the database; number of intercultural arts performances at mainstream venues; number of north east artists performing outside of the region; positive feedback and engagement with stakeholders (strategic partnerships

developed); minority ethnic artists participating fully in North East England cultural scene;

Minority Ethnic arts contribution to the regions economy is acknowledged andsupported.

Measures of success are identified in the Business Plan.


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Annex A Reducing Risk

In order to reduce the operational risks inherant in the current business model we will dothe following:

1. Budget for a level of reserves representing 3 months operations;

2. Ensure any additional services pay their way from the first day;

3. Issue additional staff with contracts that include appropriate flexibility linking theiremployment to continued funding.

We acknowledge that there are other very serious risks in the current economic andpolitical context, in particular with regard to:

- Probable change in government and consequent government policy;

- Restrictions in public sector funding, with a probable crisis year in 2011;

- Current political and economic problems giving rise to an increasingly xenophobicatmosphere which will start to be reflected in the actions of mainstream venues,politicians and funding bodies.

It is not possible to determine what we can do to mitigate these risks in all circumstances,rather we will seek to react to events as they happen. All of these problems can also beseen as opportunities and it will be important that we make alliances and lobby appropriateindividuals and organisations. For the items above we note particularly:

- The need to keep in tune with Conservative policy on the Arts and with any relevantpolitical representatives in the region;

- The need to find evidence of the diversity dividend so that we can sell fundingapplications to local authorities as an investment which will bring back returns interms of the economy and community cohesion. The conference in 2010 will be

important in this regard;

- The need to explain how our activities will be increasingly important if xenophobiaand racism become greater problems.


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Annex B Financial Projections

Optimistic Scenario

2009/10 2010/11 2011/12 2012/13 2013/14

Income

Arts Council Core 35,000.00 40,000.00 40,000.00 40,000.00 40,000.00

Arts Council Projects 2,000.00 5,000.00 5,000.00 5,000.00 5,000.00

Charitable Trusts 25,000.00 15,000.00 15,000.00 15,000.00 15,000.00

Local Authorities 6,000.00 6,000.00 6,000.00 6,000.00 6,000.00

Earned Income 14,000.00 15,000.00 20,000.00 20,000.00 20,000.00

Sponsors 6,000.00 15,000.00 15,000.00 15,000.00 15,000.00

Other 0.00

Subtotal 88,000.00 96,000.00 101,000.00 101,000.00 101,000.00

Projects - net income from external projects 9,000.00 15,000.00 30,000.00 40,000.00

(gross income required) 30,000.00 50,000.00 100,000.00 133,333.33

Total Income 88,000.00 105,000.00 116,000.00 131,000.00 141,000.00

Expenditure

Staffing

Salaries 40,000.00 40,000.00 40,000.00 60,000.00 60,000.00

On costs 16,000.00 16,000.00 16,000.00 24,000.00 24,000.00

Tees Valley Worker 16,000.00 25,000.00 25,000.00 25,000.00Sub Total 56,000.00 72,000.00 81,000.00 109,000.00 109,000.00

Administration 10,000.00 10,000.00 10,000.00 10,000.00 10,000.00

Projects which have a net cost

Cultural Calendar 10,000.00

Sustained Theatre Regional Hub 2,000.00

Business Planning 5,000.00

Regional Development & Forum 2,000.00

unidentified future projects 10,000.00 10,000.00 10,000.00 10,000.00

Total projects cost 19,000.00 10,000.00 10,000.00 10,000.00 10,000.00

Total Expenditure 85,000.00 92,000.00 101,000.00 129,000.00 129,000.00

Net 3,000.00 13,000.00 15,000.00 2,000.00 12,000.00

Statistics

Cumulative surplus starting from 3,000.00 16,000.00 31,000.00 33,000.00 45,000.00

zero in 2009

Target reserve at 25% core costs 16,500.00 20,500.00 22,750.00 29,750.00 29,750.00

Difference between actual and

target reserves -13,500.00 -4,500.00 8,250.00 3,250.00 15,250.00

Arts Council as a % of total 42% 36% 30% 22% 19%(including project spend)


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Pessimistic Scenario

2009/10 2010/11 2011/12 2012/13 2013/14Income

Arts Council Core 35,000.00 40,000.00

Arts Council Projects 2,000.00 5,000.00 15,000.00 15,000.00 15,000.00

Charitable Trusts 25,000.00 15,000.00 15,000.00 15,000.00 15,000.00

Local Authorities 6,000.00 6,000.00 6,000.00 6,000.00 6,000.00

Earned Income 14,000.00 15,000.00 30,000.00 40,000.00 40,000.00

Sponsors 6,000.00 15,000.00 15,000.00 15,000.00 15,000.00

Other 0.00

Subtotal 88,000.00 96,000.00 81,000.00 91,000.00 91,000.00

Projects - net income from external projects 9,000.00 15,000.00 18,000.00 21,000.00(gross income required) 30,000.00 50,000.00 60,000.00 70,000.00

Total Income 88,000.00 105,000.00 96,000.00 109,000.00 112,000.00

Expenditure

Staffing

Salaries 40,000.00 40,000.00 40,000.00 40,000.00 40,000.00

On costs 16,000.00 16,000.00 16,000.00 16,000.00 16,000.00

Tees Valley Worker 16,000.00 16,000.00 16,000.00 16,000.00

Sub Total 56,000.00 72,000.00 72,000.00 72,000.00 72,000.00

Administration 10,000.00 10,000.00 10,000.00 10,000.00 10,000.00

Projects which have a net cost

Cultural Calendar 10,000.00

Sustained Theatre Regional Hub 2,000.00

Business Planning 5,000.00

Regional Development & Forum 2,000.00

unidentified future projects 10,000.00 0.00 0.00 0.00

Total projects cost 19,000.00 10,000.00 0.00 0.00 0.00

Total Expenditure 85,000.00 92,000.00 82,000.00 82,000.00 82,000.00

Net 3,000.00 13,000.00 14,000.00 27,000.00 30,000.00

Statistics

Cumulative surplus starting from 3,000.00 16,000.00 30,000.00 57,000.00 87,000.00

zero in 2009

Target reserve at 25% core costs 16,500.00 20,500.00 20,500.00 20,500.00 20,500.00

Difference between actual and

target reserves -13,500.00 -4,500.00 9,500.00 36,500.00 66,500.00

Arts Council as a % of total 42% 36% 11% 10% 9%

(including project spend)


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NECDAF Intercultural Artswww.necdaf.co.uk

Plan prepared by Ribble Consultants39 Thorndale Road,Belmont,DurhamDH1 2AJ

www.ribble-consultants.co.uk

Documents

NIA-Business Plan Final Colour